ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Leading interventional pain physicians from key U.S. centers gathered at a
special clinical symposium to share their experience with Vertos Medical`s mild
(Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression), the least invasive surgical procedure
for treating lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), with no implants left behind.* Their
early clinical experiences suggest that mild may be an appropriate treatment
alternative earlier in the LSS progression, as mild patients have shown
favorable results when comparing post-treatment improvement at three months to
open surgical procedure patient results at one year1. Moreover, mild leaves
future surgical options open.
The June 29 symposium in Arlington, Va., was headlined by respected pain
medicine experts Wade Wong, D.O., professor of Radiology and Anesthesiology and
chief of Interventional and Spine Neuroradiology, University of California, San
Diego; and Bohdan Chopko, M.D., Ph.D., clinical faculty member at Northeastern
Ohio Universities College of Medicine and practicing neurosurgeon at Mid-Ohio
Neurosurgical Care, Mansfield, Ohio. Symposium content included a mild clinical
experience review, a didactic on mild patient selection and procedure execution,
and a hands-on cadaver workshop.
Among the key data unveiled at the symposium were comparative Oswestry
Disability Index (ODI) scores from an initial mild clinical study and from a
published study on open surgical treatment for LSS. These data, presented by Dr.
Chopko, indicated that mild patients showed excellent improvement at three
months post-op compared to open surgery patients at 12 months post-op. mild
patients also showed impressive improvement in Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores
at three months post-op.
"The early clinical data show that, with mild, LSS patients can achieve
substantial relief earlier in the treatment cascade, before their condition
degenerates to the point of requiring open surgery," said Dr. Chopko. "This is
important news not only for patients but for the health care system, as treating
patients earlier with mild is anticipated to produce significant cost savings
over extended medical management and eventual open surgery."
Speaking about his early clinical experience with mild, Dr. Wong concluded that
the procedure can be successfully performed on an outpatient basis under local
anesthesia and light sedation, with average recovery at two to three hours. No
procedural complications occurred.
"I am very encouraged by the preliminary patient outcomes with mild," said Dr.
Wong. "My mild patients have been thrilled with their progress. One even played
18 rounds of golf just four days post-op. Prior to the mild procedure, his pain
had rendered him nearly immobile."
Cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for decompression of the lumbar
spine, mild is an image-guided procedure performed through a skin puncture the
diameter of a pencil. Using proprietary mild devices, the physician removes the
bone or tissue that is causing the pressure on the nerves.
Approximately 900,000 Americans are in some form of treatment for LSS every
year2. Treating LSS patients earlier and least invasively, which mild provides
for, reduces overall health care costs.
"We are gratified to have the enthusiastic support of some of the country`s top
pain physicians for our mild procedure," said James M. Corbett, president and
chief executive officer of Vertos Medical. "We look forward to working with them
to offer mild as a new and earlier treatment option for the hundreds of
thousands of patients who needlessly suffer from LSS."
About Vertos Medical Inc.
Vertos Medical was founded in 2005 to develop a minimally invasive method for
lumbar spine decompression to treat patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS),
a degenerative, age-related narrowing of the lower spinal canal. Its first
proprietary platform technology, called mild (Minimally Invasive Lumbar
Decompression), is the least invasive surgical procedure for treating LSS, with
no implants left behind.
* For more information, visit www.vertosmed.com.
* Vertos mild is FDA cleared for treating central canal stenosis of the lumbar
spine.
1 Weinstein, et al, for the SPORT Investigators. Surgical versus Nonsurgical
Therapy for LSS. NEJM 2008;358:794-810
2 Derived from the longitudinal CMS database
for Vertos Medical
Laura Nobles, 310-795-0497
laura@noblescommunications.com
Copyright Business Wire 2009
